Ok. I have 2 spare mac minis, 1st gen, no bluetooth. I have a post in another sub-forum asking different questions about connecting it. My question here is, all I want to do is listen to my MP3s through my stereo. I have 1 HDMI connector available on the home theater. My main PC is a Vista box w/approx. 18,000+ MP3s all cleaned, tagged and running nicely in iTunes.

Would I be able to copy those MP3's to the Apple TV and listen to them on the home theater ? If I ever want to sync, I'll just connect it (wired) and recopy the new files over. Is that how the ATV works ?

Money isn't question. It's more about ease of use and connections. I am exploring the option of converting one of existing minis into a MP3 box, but I have to explore the option of remotes, etc. Ugh.

Would I be able to copy those MP3's to the Apple TV and listen to them on the home theater ? If I ever want to sync, I'll just connect it (wired) and recopy the new files over. Is that how the ATV works ?

Sure, as long as they are imported into iTunes. You can stream from up to 5 computers at once or sync from one. The synced files stay on the Apple TV all the time. Just think of it as a big iPod. You have 40GB or 160GB (depending on the model that you buy) worth of space to play with. You can also upgrade the HDD if you want more. I mostly stream to my Apple TV. It works really nice over my 802.11g network._________________1.25GHz Mac Mini / 1.8GHz iMac G5 / 2.0GHz C2D Mac mini (2009)
4GB iPod mini / 2G iPod shuffle / 16GB iPhone 3G
Apple TV 2
iLife's a Bitch!

Its like a ipod, so you cant natively remove the songs stored on the apple tv. The only way to get them is to pull the hdd, or ssh into it and grab them that way.

And i find the internal wireless to be quite slow, like any wireless. Running on a reported full signal on my N network, i couldnt stand how slow the thing would sync, i was forced to run a wire, and even at 10-12 mb/s its slower than my ipod.

The apple tv is a poor device in stock form for $300, but now at $230 or $200 for a refurb, it should be usable with the new software update. But its not going to be lightening fast sync's, and 160gb is poor for storage when you have more than that in just music.

But, alot of people dont expect it to do much, and love it. Unfortunately, i was quite limited by what it could do so to ebay it went. And the mini that replaced it is getting to be useless for me as well, but most people find them to be quite functional. Id rather just shove a G5 in a closet and be done with it.

If your Mini's loud, it probably has the fan control connector undone. I've done it several times myself, closing it up after upgrading hardware, the last thing you have to do is plug that little black connector back in because if you don't it is full throttle fan all the time.

I honestly can't hear either of my Mac minis unless I get up close and focus on them. And this is with the fans running. Either way, your ears will be in heaven. They are both silent and deadly. _________________1.25GHz Mac Mini / 1.8GHz iMac G5 / 2.0GHz C2D Mac mini (2009)
4GB iPod mini / 2G iPod shuffle / 16GB iPhone 3G
Apple TV 2
iLife's a Bitch!